Archive for June, 2012

On the eve of the Fortnight for Freedom, there are those within the Catholic Church who are denying that the two-week observance has anything to do with the Church’s teaching on contraception and everything to do with upholding the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religious expression. That’s a false dichotomy and misattribution of the causal nature of our current dilemma.

It’s akin to those who say the American Civil War wasn’t about slavery, that it was all about states’ rights; which of course begs the question: The right to do what?

There is no doubt that the states who seceded feared the loss of self-government to the Federal Government, but the loss of liberty was rooted in the issue of slavery which was woven into the very social and economic fabric of the South. In the case of slavery (which took on a more prominent role for Northerners as the struggle wore on) it was an example of the Federal Government getting it right. The unalienable (That is, God-given) right to liberty had been denied to African-Americans for far too long. Federal troops were sent to both preserve the Union and end slavery for good.

In the current struggle, the Federal Government has sought to attack the Catholic Church over an issue that is central to her identity and mission, the teaching that all human life is made in the image and likeness of God from the moment of fertilization and is to be respected as such until natural death. Our loss of freedom is centered on the mandate by the Federal Government that we pay not only for birth control pills, some of which are known abortifacients, but that we pay for sterilizations and known abortifacient morning-after pills such as RU-486 and Ella.

Further, the Government is dictating what institutions constitute “religious” institutions and which do not. The only “religious” institutions that qualify for an exemption by the Obama criteria would be those who violate equal opportunity law by hiring most of their employees who are members of that church, and whose services go mainly to members of that same church.

Otherwise, Catholic hospitals, schools, and social service agencies are required to pay for contraceptives, abortifacients and abortions, and sterilizations. If the bishops do so, they shred Humanae Vitae and every decent moral precept undergirding Catholic Anthropology. If they voluntarily close down these institutions, they cooperate with evil by giving our enemies precisely the evisceration of our Church that they seek.

Perhaps jails overflowing with civilly disobedient Catholic bishops, clergy, religious, and laity will be the sole salvation of religious liberty in America. We’ll see soon enough how this situation breaks. The Supreme Court ruling on the HHS mandate is due out any day, and then there are the November elections.

That’s plenty of reason to pray during this fortnight.

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Lila Rose has done it again. In Live Action’s most recent sting of Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation abortion clinics, it is revealed that the abortionists will flout the law regarding sex-selective abortions, facilitating and suborning lies in order to close the sale. The videos released to date are posted below.

The issue of sex-selective abortion has finally made its way to the fore of American consciousness, but almost certainly faces an uphill battle. That’s because we have swallowed the poison pill of radicalized autonomy. Seen through the eyes of Planned Parenthood, it is not altogether unreasonable to think that anger at sex-selective abortions is rather silly.

Parents are actively encouraged by genetic counselors and obstetricians to butcher their babies diagnosed in utero with all manner of genetic conditions, the rationale being that these children will place emotional and/or financial burdens on the parents. In many cultures, so does the genetic condition of being female.

So in that light, really, what’s the big deal? Every woman showing up at an abortion clinic has a reason for seeking the death of her baby. How can the radical left get behind efforts to restrict women’s choices, or begin to arbitrate what is or is not a legitimate reason to have an abortion?

Abortion is predicated on the very notion of radicalized autonomy, where women are a law unto themselves, where the woman’s right to control her own bodily functions is absolute. It follows that laws restricting the reason for abortion would be held in contempt by the radical left.

One of the keys to cracking the pillars of abortion is the corroding of the concept of radicalized autonomy. Sex-selective abortion is a great topic to nail our current president and left-wing politicians on. Will they support sanctions for the clinics and workers in the following videos? Will they support a national law that outlaws sex-selective abortions?

If they will, then we have a basis on which to go after abortions for genetic conditions. If they won’t, it is an indication of the malevolence that has co-opted a once proud national party.

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O Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler!
I adore you as my True God.
I bless You by uniting myself to the praises
You receive from the angel and saints.
I offer You my whole heart,
and I render You heartfelt thanks
for all the benefits You have bestowed
and do unceasingly bestow upon the world.
You are the author of all supernatural gifts
and who did enrich with immense favors the soul
of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the Mother of God,
I beseech you to visit me by Your grace and Your love,
and grant me the favor
I so earnestly seek in this novena,

Your inspiration and guidance to all truth, and the courage to proclaim that truth without hesitation or reservation.

O Holy Spirit,
spirit of truth,
come into our hearts:
shed the brightness of your light on all nations,
that they may be of one faith and pleasing to You.

Amen.

Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

DAY NINE

O Lord, Holy Spirit,
grant me sight to see the wondrous promise of divine love;
insight to see my own weakness;
delight in Your divine presence in my soul
which You have made Your temple through sanctifying grace.
I pray, O Holy Spirit,
that I may be not doubting;
that I be spared the pain of being alone
without trust or hope in Christ;
that my prayer may always be “My Lord and my God!”
I pray that I may acquire a sense of retreat
to prayer and recollection at various times in my daily life;
for prayer is the bond that joins us to Christ.
I pray that I may be aware of the physical needs of the poor
and that I may share what I can with them
in the charitable works of the Church.
I pray, O Holy Spirit,
that You will in Your mercy
grant me the favor I have sought in this novena,

That your Church remain free to do her works of mercy according to her understanding of our human nature, which has been revealed by you, that all may come to see that no government could ever espouse a higher understanding of human nature and human dignity; and that this form of government with its religious freedoms, for which over a million have sacrificed their lives, may survive and grow stronger in its protections of this all-important freedom.

Amen.

Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

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O Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler!
I adore you as my True God.
I bless You by uniting myself to the praises
You receive from the angel and saints.
I offer You my whole heart,
and I render You heartfelt thanks
for all the benefits You have bestowed
and do unceasingly bestow upon the world.
You are the author of all supernatural gifts
and who did enrich with immense favors the soul
of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the Mother of God,
I beseech you to visit me by Your grace and Your love,
and grant me the favor
I so earnestly seek in this novena,

Your inspiration and guidance to all truth, and the courage to proclaim that truth without hesitation or reservation.

O Holy Spirit,
spirit of truth,
come into our hearts:
shed the brightness of your light on all nations,
that they may be of one faith and pleasing to You.

Amen.

Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

DAY EIGHT

O Holy Spirit,
life and light of the Church,
give us thoughts higher than our own thoughts,
and prayers better than our own prayers,
and powers beyond our own powers,
that we may love and live,
imitating Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior.
Come to us, Holy Spirit,
come with the Father
and the Son
and grant me the favor I so earnestly request in this novena,

That during this time of awareness, You inspire our medical professionals with a desire to embrace the truth of contraception’s ill-effects and that they realize how they will lose their own freedom as professionals, becoming instruments of the state in what they know to be bad medicine and even worse medical ethics.

Vouchsafe to dwell within our souls
and quickly make our hearts Your own.
Quench in us the fires of hate and strife,
the wasting fever of the heart.
From perils guard our feeble life
and to our souls Your peace impart.
Let voice and mind and heart
and strength confess
and glorify Your name
and let the fire of charity burn bright
and other hearts inflame.

Amen.

Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

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O Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler!
I adore you as my True God.
I bless You by uniting myself to the praises
You receive from the angel and saints.
I offer You my whole heart,
and I render You heartfelt thanks
for all the benefits You have bestowed
and do unceasingly bestow upon the world.
You are the author of all supernatural gifts
and who did enrich with immense favors the soul
of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the Mother of God,
I beseech you to visit me by Your grace and Your love,
and grant me the favor
I so earnestly seek in this novena,

Your inspiration and guidance to all truth, and the courage to proclaim that truth without hesitation or reservation.

O Holy Spirit,
spirit of truth,
come into our hearts:
shed the brightness of your light on all nations,
that they may be of one faith and pleasing to You.

Amen.

Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

DAY SEVEN

Come, Holy Spirit,
creator of all things:
come visit our hearts with Your power.
Fill with grace, friendly guest,
the hearts which You have created.
You are called the Consoler,
gift from the hand of God,
source of life, light, love,
and flame, highest good.
You are the pledge of sevenfold grace,
finger of the Father’s hand,
promised us by Him,
and You make our tongues speak the truth.
Cast light on our senses,
pour love into our hearts.
Grant our weak bodies strength
that they may never grow weary of doing good
and grant me the favor I so earnestly seek in this novena,

That all the members of our Church will come to realize in this time of prayer and awareness that democratic government is a rare experience in human history and affords us the best means of religious freedom, and that they become aware of how that freedom is in grave peril through government mandates that strike at the very heart of the Gospel of Life.

Keep the enemy far from us,
give us peace always,
let us willingly follow in Your footsteps
that we may be far removed from sin.
Grant that through You
we may grow in knowledge of the Father and of the Son,
and that we may ever strongly believe in You,
the Spirit of both.
Praise and honor be forever to the Father on the highest throne,
in the risen Son of God,
in the Consoler.

Amen.

Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

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Like this:

O Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler!
I adore you as my True God.
I bless You by uniting myself to the praises
You receive from the angel and saints.
I offer You my whole heart,
and I render You heartfelt thanks
for all the benefits You have bestowed
and do unceasingly bestow upon the world.
You are the author of all supernatural gifts
and who did enrich with immense favors the soul
of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the Mother of God,
I beseech you to visit me by Your grace and Your love,
and grant me the favor
I so earnestly seek in this novena,

Your inspiration and guidance to all truth, and the courage to proclaim that truth without hesitation or reservation.

O Holy Spirit,
spirit of truth,
come into our hearts:
shed the brightness of your light on all nations,
that they may be of one faith and pleasing to You.

Amen.

Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

DAY SIX

O Father in Heaven,
I beg You to send the Holy Spirit.
May Your Holy Spirit remind me
when I am apt to forget Your law.
Your love, Your promises.
May Your Holy Spirit strengthen my memory
to recall frequently Your sanctity,
omniscience, wisdom, and goodness,
faithfulness, and love.
May Your Holy Spirit encourage me when I am slothful;
strengthen me when I am weak;
enlighten me when I no longer can help myself.
Breathe into me, O Holy Spirit,
that I may do what is holy.
Stir me, that I may love what is holy.
Strengthen me, that I may preserve what is holy.
Protect me, Holy Spirit,
that I may never lose what is holy
and grant me the favor I so earnestly seek in this novena,

That our nation looks with grateful remembrance on those who have sacrificed their lives, their youth, their peace for the freedoms which are now imperiled, that we resolve to honor their sacrifices by fighting peacefully to secure those liberties for which they gave all that you had bestowed on them.

Amen.

Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

Share this:

Like this:

O Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler!
I adore you as my True God.
I bless You by uniting myself to the praises
You receive from the angel and saints.
I offer You my whole heart,
and I render You heartfelt thanks
for all the benefits You have bestowed
and do unceasingly bestow upon the world.
You are the author of all supernatural gifts
and who did enrich with immense favors the soul
of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the Mother of God,
I beseech you to visit me by Your grace and Your love,
and grant me the favor
I so earnestly seek in this novena,

Your inspiration and guidance to all truth, and the courage to proclaim that truth without hesitation or reservation.

O Holy Spirit,
spirit of truth,
come into our hearts:
shed the brightness of your light on all nations,
that they may be of one faith and pleasing to You.

Amen.

Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

DAY FIVE

Come, O Spirit of sanctity,
from the glory of heaven
and send forth the radiance of Your light.
Father of all the poor,
light and peace of all hearts,
come with Your countless gifts.
Consoler in desolation;
refreshment full of loveliness,
come dear friend of my soul.
In weariness send repose;
breath gently cool refreshing breeze;
console the desolate who weep alone.
Light of Beatitude,
make our hearts ready;
come enter our souls.
Without Your grace,
man stands alone;
he cannot be good or sure.
Cleanse what is soiled;
heal what is wounded;
moisten what is arid.
Bend the stubborn will;
warm the cold heart;
guide the wandering footstep.
O Holy Spirit,
we beg You to give us grace through Your sevenfold power
and grant me the favor I so earnestly seek in this novena,

That our leaders and laity may come to see the roots from which this war on religious freedom springs, that it has sprung from the deep roots of abortion and hedonism which have choked our land and driven decency and kindness from her like beggar orphans.

Give us merit for the present,
and one day beatitude when we have finished our earthly journey.

Amen.

Come, O Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.